Belfast's Hidden Rivers 'Uncovered'

A new Belfast City Council supported arts project is to 'uncover' the hidden rivers that flow under Belfast's modern streets.

'Resounding Rivers' will draw attention to the importance of rivers such as the Blackstaff and Farset, as well as the Lagan herself, in the development and history of our city.

PLACE, the Architecture and Built Environment Centre for Northern Ireland, with the support of Belfast City Council, has commissioned sound artist Matt Green to bring this unseen history of the city back to life.

By projecting sound into the city streets, Mr Green will seek to give the rivers, their waterways and associated industries a renewed presence in Belfast, highlighted the routes of the now buried Blackstaff and Farset (outflow to River Lagan, pictured) as well as the changed shape of the Lagan itself.

At six sites around the City Centre, each chosen because it lies on the route of one of the three rivers, the sound projections will feature the sound of water sources recorded across Northern Ireland, representing what the artist describes as "the past flowing through the present".

Mr Green, a sound artist based at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen's, said: "The names of our streets - Bank Street, Bridge Street, Skipper Street - allude to the importance of these waterways in the development of the city.

"But today, they are culverted and diverted, built over and hidden, and in only a few places are we aware of the presence of water in the cityscape. 'Resounding Rivers' aims to give them a renewed presence in the city centre," he said.

The project seeks to highlight the role that the city’s rivers played in the development of the Belfast cityscape we know today, as Michael Hegarty, Director of PLACE, explained: "The Blackstaff and the Farset in the past generated many of the street layouts and townscape that is still very much in place even though the rivers are now in pipes below the streets.

"This sound installation will highlight the location of the rivers with relevant recordings dispersed around the city centre.

"The connections of place names, street layouts and the rivers are explored in a way that engages directly with passers-by."

'Resounding Rivers' will be unveiled on 6 May, as part of Belfast City Council's monthly 'Late Night Art' programme, which sees art galleries across the city opening until 9pm on the first Thursday of each month. The installations will remain at the six sites around the city centre in place until 5 June.

(NS/BMcC)